7. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from his father from ‘Abd Allah ibn Yahya from ‘Abd Allah ibn Muskan from abu Basir who has said the following:

“Once I asked Abu ‘Abdillah about the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, ‘. . . they (unconditionally) obeyed the rabbis and the monks. ... as they should have obeyed Allah. . . .’ (9:31) The Imam said, ‘By Allah, they (rabbis and monks) did not call the people to worship them. Had they done so people would not have listened to them. They, however, made certain things lawful and unlawful as they liked and people obeyed and worshipped them without realizing the evil in such worship.’”